


Exchange

by noveltea



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-17
Updated: 2010-07-17
Packaged: 2017-10-10 15:19:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/101180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noveltea/pseuds/noveltea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teyla and Kate celebrate Christmas on Atlantis.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Exchange

They always met in Kate's quarters. It was an unspoken agreement they'd come to early on. She had more space, and Teyla had been eager to learn as much about Earth as she could, and Kate's mementos provided interesting stimuli for stories.

"Time was marked differently in the Pegasus galaxy," Kate had told Teyla before. It seemed like an obvious observation, but the humans from Earth kept calendars by both the Earth standard, and from the information found in the Atlantis databases.

Her team had tried to explain the nature of the many holidays that were on the Earth calendar, including Christmas. They'd done a decent job of it, as both Teyla and Ronon had left the discussion with an understanding of the holiday, but it was Kate who had broken it down for her, talking more about the history of it and the commercial nature and the idea of gift-giving.

That in itself was not such a foreign concept to Teyla - gift-giving was as common to her people as it seemed to be for the humans of Earth. However Kate place an importance on this particular occasion. She'd even placed decorations - to mark the season - around her room. Chains of finely-cut plastic in metallic colours that she called tinsel adorned the windowsills, held in place with clear tape. Even the stuffed toy bear that she'd told Teyla had been a gift from her four-year old niece wore a Santa hat.

On the day that was traditionally Christmas eve on Earth, Kate invited Teyla over for dinner. The commissary had been serving traditional Christmas food all week, but Kate had organised something special and she refused to tell Teyla anything about it.

Candlelit dinner, Athosian wine and good conversation and they were laid out on the floor rug next to Kate's Christmas tree - a small tree that she'd had some of the marines pick up for her from the mainland. To look at her, no one would pick Kate Heightmeyer as being able to get anything and everything just by asking, but Teyla knew that Kate was one of a handful of people in the city who worked together to make sure the citizens of the city had everything they needed, and some of the things they wanted.

She also suspected that Major Lorne and Dr. Kusanagi were part of that group of people.

But when Kate handed her a small, gift-wrapped box, Teyla was prepared. She had her own gift ready to give, a small carved pendant that she'd made herself. Kate's gift to her was beautiful, a silver chain with a small silver ball attached. The surface wasn't flat, but had lines cut into it in a strange pattern Teyla didn't immediately recognise.

"That's Earth," Kate told her quietly. "All the continents, the oceans. A small part of my world."

"Thank you. It's beautiful," Teyla told her.

Kate had already fastened the pendant from Teyla's gift around her neck and it hung over the cloth of her shirt. "Merry Christmas, Teyla."

Teyla's hand found Kate's. "And to you."


End file.
